Afterthoughts
by manic-moiraine
Summary: When all is said and done...what now? “If you walk away now, then it will all have been for nothing...how will you know that this was ever real!


Disclamer: I own nothing.  
Just a quick story that I couldn't get out of my head so I thought maybe writing it down would :)

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A million things were racing through her mind from her perch upon the giant willow tree, although one question stood out in her mind quieting all the others. What now? This one simple question seemed to encompass all her thoughts and feelings and push all the other questions, thoughts, and emotions out of the way. It was finished. They had traveled to the depths of the northern crater and defeated a god. Well maybe not a god, but a superior being none the less. Even though they had all made it out alive, they had emerged broken, battered, and sprits torn asunder.

Yuffie hadn't gone to the great weeping willow to contemplate these thoughts. In fact she hadn't planned on going to the weeping willow in the first place. Her plan had been to sneak out under the cover of the stars away from her comrades and away from the pain and anguish that had found them. With her pack of supplies she had slowly slipped away from the dying campfire and sleeping friends being careful not to disturb anyone. Dragging her feet upon the dying grass, head hung low she picked random direction and set out.

Yuffie had only been walking for ten minutes or so when she spotted the giant tree. It was hard not to miss, it looked…out of place. There where no other trees surrounding it and it was slowly withering away. Yuffie felt drawn to it. Something about this tree reminded her of herself. Was it the loneliness? Or the thought of slowly withering away, withering out of the minds of her friends? She approached the tree slowly and with caution. Taking her pack off her back her held it tightly in her left hand and placed her right on the trunk of the tree. The trunk felt dry and gritty under her hand. Closing her eyes she let the moment encompass her. Alone in nature sometimes she could forget everything and focus only on the sounds of earth. For the moment everything seemed so right. For the moment she forgot about everything…her home…the journey…the battle…and her friends. Yuffie's eyes shot open and as suddenly as the moment of peace came it was gone, washed away by memories of harsh and unforgiving journey.

Setting down her pack at the base of the tree Yuffie looked up at the branches. The moon eerily down upon them giving the tree a much more menacing look. Grabbing on to the trunk she started to climb up the weeping willow into the depth of its branches. After a few minutes of climbing Yuffie found a nice sturdy branch and stopped her climbing in favor of resting on the previously aforementioned branch. Looking up at the sky through the branches Yuffie realized that this was the first time she was actually able to just sit and relax. The journey had kept them quite busy and unable to think about anything but saving the planet. Now that the journey was over there was plenty of time to think, and now that the future was a little more secure the big question popped into Yuffie head. What now?

She had thought it would be easy to walk away from her friends. She'd sneak away and everything would become dream. True be told, she hadn't wanted to leave them but she didn't know what else to do. What would become of the group of misfit heroes? The group of adventures had become the only friends Yuffie had every really known and she didn't want to let go of that. So instead of staying Yuffie did the only thing she could think of run. Laughing to herself Yuffie wondered what she was really doing up in this dying tree. The sun would soon be making its appearance soon and she hadn't gotten more than ten minutes away from camp. Speaking of camp, soft footfalls coming from that direction alerted Yuffie that she was no longer alone. Squinting her eyes in the darkness Yuffie focused on the figure walking in her general direction. When he was within earshot of the tree she made her presence know.

"I can't say I'm surprised to see you leaving. Although I figured it would have been much sooner." Yuffie stated from her perch in the tree. Any other normal human being would have at least been slightly startled when hearing an unexpected voice from above. Vincent wasn't a normal human. He stopped walking but even didn't even bother to glance in her direction.

"The…transformations…took a lot out of me this time."

"Ahh…I see." was her only response. Now this did slightly startle Vincent. It was quite rare for the young ninja to not offer her opinions. Sighing Vincent walked over the weeping willow and leaned back on the trunk still staring straight ahead.

"And why have you not left?" he questioned from his spot below. A soft laugh was heard from up above.

"I tried Vincent, I really tried. But when I got to this tree I was…I was…distracted."

"Distracted…how?"

"By this lonely tree. I felt drawn to it." Yuffie responded, and Vincent understood. He had felt something similar when looking at the pitiful tree.

"I think…I think this tree is my fear Vincent. The more I think about it the more it makes sense. I was running away from Avalanche…running away from my friends, running away from the future. I thought…I thought that if I left then I could look back at all this and remember it as a good dream. I could remember I time when I had friends…saved the world. I guess I thought it would be easier to run and imagine it a dream than wake up and find out it wasn't real." Yuffie scoffed at this glanced down at Vincent. He was still leaned up against the tree looking as emotionless as usual. Getting the expected response from the gunman she continued on.

"And then I saw this tree, all alone…and withering away to be remembered by none. I don't want that to be me. I've been alone for so long that I sabotaged my relationship with Avalanche in the beginning because I didn't know how to have friends. I never believed that they would actually forgive me and now that they have I don't want this all be a dream. Friends that forgive you after a betrayal like that are hard to come by. It's not a dream Vincent, is it? Please tell me it's real!"

"I'm not sure what's real anymore." He replied solemnly thinking of the tree. Yuffie was afraid of becoming like the tree, but he had been there once already. Locked in the basement of the mansion, alone and forgotten. It wasn't a pleasant feeling and it did wonders on your concept of reality. "I haven't been sure for awhile."

"Why are you leaving Vincent?" Yuffie asked trying a different line of questioning.

"I don't belong here."

"You don't belong? If you belong anywhere I think its here with Avalanche."

"I very much doubt that." Vincent replied. "I don't know how to have friends either."

"Well I couldn't think of better group of friends then. Look at me I royally fucked up and I think they are all my friends yet. Aren't they?"

"I believe so."

"Well it's settled then if they will accept me than they well accept you too because you are so much more useful than me and have lots of nifty skills"

"Even so, I must go." Vincent responded, and stepped away from the tree. Yuffie looked down at him with confusion.

"Why?"

"It's just something I must do." He answered walking away, and not in the direction of camp.

"Bullshit." Yuffie said as she jumped down from the tree. She winced at the contact of the ground, she must have been up a little higher than she thought and the wound in her side, from the last battle, hadn't completely healed yet. Vincent heard her wince and stopped but didn't turn around and face her.

"I've been thinking about this all night Vincent. Trust me you don't want to walk away."

"Isn't that what you were planning on doing?" He said his back still towards her.

"Yes, but I've changed my mind and so should you." At this Vincent finally turned around to face her. The sun peeking over the horizon behind him cast a strange light on her face. She looked determined and the sun only emphasized her bright unwavering eyes.

"Why?" he asked, and the ninja cracked.

"If you walk away now…then it will all have been for nothing. If you go away now how will you know that this was ever real! I think…I think we have to go back to them Vincent. If nothing else than just for the day because if you walk away now what's to stop this from becoming one of your dreams…your nightmares. If you walk away then that is what it will become, a dream. You need to remember this as real, our victory. It's time to stop you atoning, Hojo is gone, Sephiroth defeated. Vincent there is nothing left for you of your old life, but Avalanche is your new life. Besides who else do you have left? And the same goes for me. I was a thief, a liar, and a brat, but they accepted me. Something happened in that last battle Vincent, something that changed everybody. Or maybe it was the journey in general but something has changed. I know your past hasn't been easy…none of our pasts have. Maybe that's what brought us all together, maybe that's what kept us together, but it's definitely what makes our futures brighter. And Vincent, you belong there just as much as I do. So please for the sake of Avalanche, for the sake of your future, for the sake of my sanity please come back to camp with me." Yuffie looked at him with pleading eyes and Vincent…Vincent gave in.

"Alright" he said approaching her. When he got within a foot of her he stopped and looked into her eyes. "I'll go back with you. You are right, this needs to be real, and for it to be real we need to stick together, at least for now."

Yuffie cocked her head slightly to the side and smiled. Now that was more like it, or at least it was a start.

"Well it's settled then." After grabbing her bag and slinging it on her back Yuffie walked back up to Vincent and took his right hand with her left.

"Come on friend lets go back to camp and back to reality." She said to him as she led him back to camp. A small smiled appeared on Vincent's face although no one saw it. He wasn't sure where the future would lead him but he was certain about one thing, he had friends that cared for him. Although it may not seem like much…it was a start.


End file.
